Comparing ECIRS with MPCNL for Complex Renal Calculi: A Retrospective Single-Centre Study on Efficacy and Safety.

Background: Kidney stones, a common urinary system ailment, often necessitate surgical intervention. Endoscopic combined intrarenal surgery (ECIRS) and multi-channel percutaneous nephron lithotripsy (MPCNL) are key modalities for treating complex renal stones, prompting the need for a comparative analysis to enhance clinical decision-making.

Methods: Patients undergoing surgical treatment for complex kidney stones from April 2018 to April 2022 were divided into the control (MPCNL) and observation (ECIRS) groups. Propensity score matching was used to balance baseline data, and t-tests and chi-square tests were employed to compare the perioperative indicators between the two groups.

Results: A total of 210 patients were enrolled in this study for pre-observational comparison, and they were divided into the control group (110 patients) and observation group (100 patients). Following matching, each group comprised 85 patients. Pre-observational comparison revealed significant differences between the groups in age, disease duration, and stone diameter (p < 0.05). However, after matching, baseline data comparison showed no statistically significant differences (p > 0.05). Surgery-related parameters, including operation time, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative activity duration and hospital stay, did not significantly differ between the groups (p > 0.05). The observation group exhibited a significantly higher stone retention-free rate after initial treatment compared with the control group (p < 0.05), although overall stone clearance rates did not significantly differ between the groups (p > 0.05). We found no significant differences in perioperative complications between the two groups (p > 0.05). Moreover, the observation group experienced significantly lower postoperative pain levels at 6, 24 and 48 h compared with the control group (p < 0.001).

Conclusions: Conclusively, ECIRS and MPCNL are viable options for treating complex renal calculi, with similar operation times, complication rates and stone clearance rates. ECIRS may offer advantages including lower postoperative pain and higher initial stone clearance rates than MPCNL. However, large-scale studies with long follow-up times are needed for validation.